AnkerMake M5 Protocol 2026 Edition

Welcome! This repository contains ankerctl, a command-line interface and web UI for monitoring, controlling and interfacing with AnkerMake M5 and M5C 3D printers.

The ankerctl program uses libflagship, a library for communicating with the numerous different protocols required for connecting to an AnkerMake M5 or M5C printer. The libflagship library is also maintained in this repo, under libflagship/.

Features

Current Features

• Print directly from PrusaSlicer and its derivatives (SuperSlicer, Bamboo Studio, OrcaSlicer, etc.)

• Connect to AnkerMake M5/M5C and AnkerMake APIs without using closed-source Anker software.

• Send raw gcode commands to the printer (and see the response).

• Low-level access to MQTT, PPPP and HTTPS APIs.

• Send print jobs (gcode files) to the printer.

• Stream camera image/video to your computer (AnkerMake M5 only).

• Easily monitor print status.

Integrations

• Home Assistant: ankerctl now ships with a native Home Assistant Custom Component! Simply copy the custom_components/ankermake directory into your Home Assistant config/custom_components folder, restart Home Assistant, and click "Add Integration" to natively import your AnkerMake printers and their live MQTT sensors (Temperature, Print Progress) into your dashboard.

Installation

There are currently two ways to do an install of ankerctl. You can install directly from git utilizing python on your Operating System or you can install from Docker which will install ankerctl in a containerized environment. Only one installation method should be chosen.

Order of Operations for Success:

• Choose installation method: Docker or Git
• Follow the installation intructions for the install method
• Login to your AnkerMake account
• Have fun! Either run ankerctl from CLI or launch the webserver

Note Minimum version of Python required is 3.10

Follow the instructions for a git install (recommended), or docker install.

Authenticating your Account

1. Import your AnkerMake account data by opening a terminal window in the root ankermake-m5-protocol directory and logging in:

   python3 ankerctl.py config login

   You will be asked to provide your AnkerMake Email, Password, and Country Code.

   Note: For more specific details on authentication options, bypassing Captchas, and verifying your connection, read the Login Instructions page.

   At this point, your config is saved locally. To see an overview of the stored data and verify your connected printers, use config show:

   ./ankerctl.py config show
   [*] Account:
       user_id: 01234567890abcdef012...<REDACTED>
       email:   [email protected]
       region:  eu
   
   [*] Printers:
       sn: AK7ABC0123401234
       duid: EUPRAKM-001234-ABCDE

NOTE: The cached login info contains sensitive details. In particular, the user_id field is used when connecting to MQTT servers, and essentially works as a password. Thus, the end of the value is redacted when printed to screen, to avoid accidentally disclosing sensitive information.

2. Now that the printer information is known to ankerctl, the tool is ready to use. There’s a lot of available commands and utilities, use a command followed by -h to learn what your options are and get more in specific usage instructions.

NOTE: You must keep the terminal webserver running anytime you wish to use the web interface or print via a slicer.

Usage

Web Interface

1. Start the webserver by running one of the following commands in the folder you placed ankerctl in. You’ll need to have this running whenever you want to use the web interface or send jobs to the printer via a slicer:

   Docker Installation Method:

   docker compose up

   Git Installation Method Using Python:

   ./ankerctl.py webserver run

2. Navigate to http://localhost:4470 in your browser of choice on the same computer the webserver is running on.

Important You must have logged in via ankerctl.py config login in your terminal before you can use the web interface. Once logged in, the page will load providing access to your cameras and printer status.

Printing Directly from PrusaSlicer

ankerctl can allow slicers like PrusaSlicer (and its derivatives) to send print jobs to the printer using the slicer’s built in communications tools. The web server must be running in order to send jobs to the printer.

Currently there’s no way to store the jobs for later printing on the printer, so you’re limited to using the “Send and Print” option only to immediately start the print once it’s been transmitted.

Additional instructions can be found in the web interface.

Command-line tools

Some examples:

# run the webserver to control over webgui
./ankerctl.py webserver run

# attempt to detect printers on local network
./ankerctl.py pppp lan-search

# monitor mqtt events
./ankerctl.py mqtt monitor

# start gcode prompt
./ankerctl.py mqtt gcode

# set printer name
./ankerctl.py mqtt rename-printer BoatyMcBoatFace

# print boaty.gcode
./ankerctl.py pppp print-file boaty.gcode

# capture 4mb of video from camera
./ankerctl.py pppp capture-video -m 4mb output.h264

# select printer to use when you have multiple
./ankerctl.py -p <index> # index starts at 0 and goes up to the number of printers you have